Hello once again everyone! It's time for the second episode of season 1!

Chapter 5: Seeing is Believing

A person from the power plant had come over to teach is about it, but can I just tell you that it was boring as heck? I was actually secretly playing Pokemon on my phone, thanks to a non jailbroken emulator. Really, no one was paying attention. Ulrich was staring out the window, Odd was doodling a picture of Kiwi, heck even Jeremy was more focused on his notes than the actual presentation.

"Our heating plant uses energy supplied by a nuclear reactor, thanks to which we produced thousands of megawatts of electrical power." The doctor, named Dr. DeLaker said. "Here we have the cooling tower; this is the turbine, the alternator, and then finally the reactor." He continued, pointing at each part. "This plant is one of the most powerful in the world. As chief engineer I am particularly concerned with safety. In order to guarantee this safety, security measures have been applied at every level of production. The plants design is functioning and problem phases, which we call in-depth defense. I will be glad to answer any questions." He finished.

Jeremy raised his hand. I took a quick glance at his notes, and saw the word 'materialization' to know what he was gonna ask about.

"Yes, Jeremy?" Ms. Hertz called.

"I would like to know if an atomic process exists for fusing virtual particles and materializing them in the real world." We all looked at one another, smiling. To put it in layman's terms: Can I truly materialize Aelita, and if so, how?

"Son, that is in the realm of science fiction, sorry." Dr. DeLaker said, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"Jeremy is one if our brightest students, but he's a bit of a dreamer." Ms. Hertz explained. The whole room busted out into laughter, minus the select group who knew what he was asking. I gave our brainiac a pat on the back in sympathy as Odd tirned around and stuck his tongue out at Sissi and Herb.

The projector suddenly went out, along with the lights. "Well now. What's happened here?" Ms. Hertz attempted to turn the projector pack on, but to no avail. "It's probably nothing serious. Just a blown fuse." Jeremy looked at us with a worried glance.

After Class

"And I'm saying that maybe XANA is behind this!" Jeremy protested. I rolled my eyes.

"Jeremy, calm down. Short circuits happen all the time." I said as we walked over to Yumi.

"Hey." She greeted us. I waved back in response. "What's new?"

"Einstein here thinks that XANA is attacking. And really all it was was a short circuit." Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Odd," Mr. Delmas suddenly said, walking up behind us. "I've thought it over; you can form your group, the uh, Fox Trot Fanatics?"

"Yes!" Odd exclaimed.

"Its the Pop Rock Progressives, sir." Yumi politely corrected.

"But it must be open to ANYONE who wishes to play, am I clear?" We all nodded.

"No problamo, sir." Odd replied. Satisfied with the answer he received, walked away. "Yeah! Let's hear it for the god of rock n roll!" Odd shouted as he slid in his knees. Jeremy and I rolled our eyes. "Hey, c'mon! If we step on it, we can photocopy the leaflets before lunch, Jeremy."

"Well, y'know Odd, I'm not into rock. Besides, I want to check on that outage." He replied before walking off.

"What about you, Emily?" Ulrich asked. "Didn't you say you were in a band?"

"Yes, but it wasn't like this. I was in my school band. I was going to start marching band next year before all of this happens."

"What'd you play?"

"Trumpet." I smiled faintly. "I'm gonna go ahead and go with Jeremy. See you guys later."

In Jeremy's Room

I knocked on the door, and entered to find Jeremy hard at work.

"What makes you so sure that XANA is involved?" I asked.

"You can't be too careful with XANA." Jeremy replied, still typing. "Weird... Why can't I hear anything? Let's check this out." He entered something in the computer. "Aelita? Aelita, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremy." Aelita responded. "Is everything ok?"

"We had a power failure in class this morning, and the school electricity system seems go be having problems." Jeremy explained.

"And?" Aelita asked, appearing on his monitor. "Do you think XANA's behind it, Jeremy?"

"Well, you never know." Aelita simply shook her head.

"See, even she thinks you're making a mountain out of a molehill!" I exclaimed.

"Have you noticed anything on Lyoko?" Jeremy asked, ignoring my previous statement.

"No, everything's quiet here." Aelita replied. Jeremy began typing again.

"I'll launch a scan." He said, activating the scan. "If XANA's activated a tower, we'll find out soon." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Aelita asked.

"To the cafeteria. They've got brussels sprouts today. You know what they are?"

"Yes, but I don't know what they taste like. Are they good?"

Lunch

"Bleh, they're gross." Ulrich said, pushing his tray away.

"And that's why I never try vegetables at school." I stated. Ulrich had decided to try the brussels sprouts, and I can safely say he's not a fan. Jeremy simply chuckled and continued eating.

"Odd." Jim said. "What are you up to now?"

"We're holding auditions for our group." Odd explained. Jim snatched up the flyer he was holding and began to read it. Odd walked off and put more flyers on the tables he passed. "If anyone is interested, we need a drummer!" However, when Odd got to Sissi's table, despite the fact that Nicholas was holding his hand out for a flyer, Odd walked off.

Vending Machines

Odd was trying to figure out what to have from the vending machine, and he was definitely taking his sweet time.

"Hot chocolate? No, soup? No, the soup tastes like dishwater." That was all Ulrich needed to hear before pushing the button for soup. "Hey! You pressed soup!"

"C'mon, it's not that awful." Ulrich argued. Odd sighed and looked at the cup that fell from the machine. Only a few drops of liquid came out before the machine died.

"Oh this miserable machine is on the blink again!" He picked up the cup and dumped its small contents, then threw it away.

"Maybe it's another power failure." Jeremy speculated. Yumi and I looked at him.

"Are you worried?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah, I am." He replied.

"Well, we can check it out." I said. He nodded at me .

"If you guys need us, we'll be in the auditorium. We're gonna hold auditions."

Jeremy's Room

"400,000 volts in a high tension pylon!?" I exclaimed.

"That's not right..." Jeremy noted. "Aelita?"

"Got anything new?" Aelita asked.

"Well, not really." Jeremy said, scratching his head. Suddenly Aelitas picture began going fuzzy, before the lights and computer turned off. I reached over to Jeremys lamp and began hitting the button, but the light wouldn't turn back on. Jeremy then ran out of the room with me following close behind. We ran to the front gate, and saw a pylon crackling with electricity.

"That's not a good thing." I said. We took off once again to the auditorium. By the time we got there, Jeremy was panting.

"This is XANA's doing! I'm almost sure of it!" Jeremy exclaimed. He sat down in a chair in front of the others.

"Yeah, go on." Yumi urged.

"The current's cutting out all around the school." Jeremy began.

"Not to mention that the pylon outside is WAY over the voltage limit." I chimed in. "It could explode!"

"But why would XANA do that?" Ulrich asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine, Ulrich." Jeremy said truthfully.

"Surprise." Sissi said, walking in with her cronies. "It's obvious my friends and I aren't very welcomed, but my father did say that band was open to anyone, right?" She asked. We all glared at her in response. "Oh but don't worry! I don't wanna be in a group of deadbeat weirdos, but Nicholas here just loves the drums."

"A drummer, huh? What does he play, his moms pots and pans?"

"Alright guys, Jeremy and I are off to you know where. We'll keep you posted." I said, before running off with Jeremy.

We ran to the boiler room and into the path that lead to the stairs. We both grabbed our scooters and rode down to the ladder before entering the factory and going down to the lab.

"Aelita, sorry about the outage. What's new?" Jeremy asked.

"You were right to be worried. XANA's woken up." Aelita informed us.

"The scan's picked something up." Jeremy said. "The tower XANA's activated is in the Desert Sector.

"I'm on my way." Aelita informed us.

"Be careful Aelita."

"I will." The main monitor then showed us a path from where the power line lead to. Jeremy gasped in realization of what XANA was planning.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed. "Emily, call the others!" I dialed Yumi's number.

"Yumi, we have a major problem. Get over here with Ulrich and Odd ASAP!"

"Ok, be right there." She responded, then hung up.

"They're on their way." I looked at the monitor. "Virtualize me in the Desert Sector. We need to deactivate this tower as fast as possible."

"Right." I went down into the scanner room, and into a scanner. "Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

I landed in front of the way tower in the desert sector. Moments later, Aelita walked out of the tower.

"C'mon Aelita, we need to deactivate this tower."

Lab

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd all walked out of the elevator and into the lab.

"At last!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Here's what XANA's up to: Once he's stored enough energy in that pylon, he'll unleash it all."

"Unleash it where?" Odd asked.

"Guess. On the nuclear plant!" Jeremy explained.

"Creating a short circuit, and..." Yumi trailed off as Odd gasped.

"The pylon can take 1,000,000 volts. Once it's all accumulated, he can blow everything up, including us."

"Nuclear sabotage, that's a little over our heads, wouldn't you say?" Yumi pointed out.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Ulrich asked.

"Think about it! If we fail on Lyoko the whole region will be wiped out!" Yumi exclaimed. "We've got to warn the authorities!"

"Are you crazy!? There'll be an inquiry, and we'll be questioned! We'll have to tell them everything! And if they discover XANA, they'll pull all the plugs out."

"And we'll lose Aelita." Yumi finished. "And I know that! But we're talking about a nuclear disaster!" Yumi and Jeremy stared at each other in an awkward silence.

"Ok... Let's take a vote." Jeremy finally decided. "Who's for raising the alarm?"

"For." Yumi said, raising her hand.

"Against?" Jeremy asked, raising his hand.

"Against." Odd decided. Aelitas face appeared on screen.

"Sorry Aelita, but I also don't think we can take that big a risk. I vote for." Ulrich said.

"Well then, two votes for and two votes against, it's a tie." Jeremy said. "We don't tell anyone."

"I think it means we should tell everyone!" Yumi argued.

"Don't I have the right to vote?" Aelita asked. Jeremy turned to face her.

"Why sure you do. That way, there won't be a tie."

"In that case, I vote for." Aelita said.

"Huh!?"

"I don't want thousands of people to die, just to save me." Aelita explained.

"Thank you, Aelita."

Yumi went to the elevator while Ulrich and Odd climbed down the ladder.

"Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer , Odd. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. VIRTUALIZATION!"

On Lyoko

Ulrich and Odd landed not too far from us.

"We're gonna make it, huh Ulrich?"

"I sure hope so, Odd."

"Ok, I got it. The scan has located the activated tower." Jeremy said as Ulrich and Odd ran over to us. "It's near an oasis."

"I know where that is. That way, on the other plateau." Aelita said, pointing in front of us.

"Let's go then!" I exclaimed, urging the others to follow me. We quickly made our way to the oasis, but the activated tower was nowhere in sight.

"I don't believe this! Where is this tower?" Odd asked.

"We can't see it right now, but it's here all right. Look at XANA's pulsations, they all converge here." Aelita pointed out.

"C'mon, you can do it! You can't be too far away." Jeremy said. "You've got to find it fast, the pylon's going to be overloaded soon!" Knowing how this issue was resolved in the episode, I picked up a rock and threw it in.

"Aha!" I exclaimed, causing the others to look at me. "Very sneaky, but there's no water in this oasis!" I explained. "In fact, this is probably where our activated tower is hiding!" I jumped into the oasis, the others soon following. We landed in front of a bunch of rocks, which lead to the tower. Odd stopped in front of it.

"There." He said, pointing at it. Then, a few Krabs appeared, one of them hitting Odd.

"Odd!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"I hate those horrible Krabs!" Odd shouted. Ulrich pulled out his saber, and me my staff.

"Aelita, it's you they're after. Go on, run!" Ulrich exclaimed. She took off, but one of the Krabs began following her.

"Aelita!" Odd exclaimed, and jumped in front of her before she was hit. He devirtualized from the hit, however. I looked down at my staff, and noticed a thunderbolt flashing on the top.

"Thunderbolt!" I shouted, and hit one of the four Krabs with a bolt of lightning, destroying it. "Sweet! I can use elemental magic too!" I said with a grin. Ulrich blocked a few laser from another Krab, then used his Triplicate power to make two clones, and destroy another Krab.

Odd walked up to Jeremy back in the lab. "Thank you for saving Aelita. But things look bad here. Up to 95%, and soon XANA will be able to attack the nuclear plant."

Back on Lyoko, Ulrich sent his clones to get rid of our friends. On of tgem was taken out, but the other succeeded.

"Fusion." Ulrich said, and prepared to kill the last one.

"Ulrich!" I called out. "Give me a boost." He nodded and bent down with his hands out. I ran over to him, and jumped high into the air with his help. I pointed the tip on my staff at the Krab

"Magic Blast!" I shouted, and managed to destroy the last Krab. I landed with a smile. "We've done our job. It's your turn, Aelita." She nodded at me and ran into the tower.

Aelita entered the code just in time, as the electricity that was going to the power plant stopped just in time. Jeremy let out a sigh of relief.

"Ready for a return trip to the past, Odd?" Odd nodded. Jeremy began typing it in. "Return to the past, now!" A white bubble engulfed all of the city.

Auditorium

Odd, in the end, allowed Nicholas in the band. Jeremy and I were watching them preform, and they weren't that bad. I especially liked the slide trombone part courtesy of Jim (I may or may have not had a part of that decision.)

"You guys are super nuclear! You're gonna make this town explode!" Jeremy joked. I laughed, realizing what he meant.

Can I say that I hate being sick? Anyways, I'll see you guys next time for Holiday in the Fog... Or maybe it'll be something else.